


Stuck in the middle with you

by thisisamadhouse



Series: In every universe you and I are soulmates [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 09:01:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14077449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisamadhouse/pseuds/thisisamadhouse
Summary: For the OQ Prompt Party 2018 Friday: My own spin on #57 with OQ as Grace and Frankie.





	Stuck in the middle with you

“Do you know what this is all about?” A voice Robin Locksley knows only too well asks, as the person it belongs to sits down across from him at the table reserved for four in their favourite restaurant.

 

“Hello, Regina. Nice to see you too. How are you tonight?” He replies, looking up from his menu in time to see her rolling her eyes at him.

 

“Yes, yes, hello, I’m fine, how are you? Now that we got the small talk out of the way, what the hell is this about, and where are they?”

 

Regina Mills Colter, the bane of his existence in power suits and heels, has always appeared to be perpetually cross with him. He is not sure what he has ever done to deserve that, but it’s been this way for as long as he can remember. It is true that they have clashing personalities, where she is a down to Earth, no nonsense realist, in a downright annoying way at times, he is an unconditional optimist and a dreamer, who believes in second chances and following one’s heart, which is not exactly her forte. Of course, he wishes he didn’t have to suffer through her presence most of the time, but she is married to his best friend and godmother to his son so he has learned to just have a drink and roll with it.

 

“Don’t you think you are overreacting to a simple dinner invitation? It’s not like we haven’t come here a hundred times over the years,” Robin replies, still studying the menu, until a hand presses it down to the table, and he finds himself looking straight at intense whiskey brown eyes on a frowning face.

 

“Are you pathologically unable to be serious for a second? And stop pretending that you’re contemplating what to eat when we both know we’re going to order the platter of seafood like we always do,” she hisses, but then her mouth clamps shut when the waitress appears.

 

“Well, if these aren’t two of my favourite customers! How are you guys doing? Are we waiting for the rest of the foursome? I already have a platter of seafood with your name on it, is that alright?” Tall, leggy, red hair Ruby, their usual attendant in her just on the border of appropriate clothes, asks in quick succession.

 

“Hi, Ruby. We’re fine, thank you for asking,” he answers, throwing a meaningful look towards Regina, to which she huffs and looks away. “And yes, we’re waiting for our very busy partners to show up to share some seafood, but I think we will order some drinks in the meantime, just to be safe,” he concludes, scrunching his nose and inclining his head in Regina’s direction.

 

Ruby stifles a laugh at their antics. “Okay, let me guess, Apple Martini for Mrs Colter and a Bourbon on the rocks for Mr Locksley?”

 

They both nod and she departs with a ‘I’ll be right back’. Robin smiles as Regina leans back in her chair, crosses her arms,avoiding eye contact.

 

“As fun as it is to watch you fuming over there, I’m going to play. I do think that this is just a casual dinner between friends, and that you are reading too much into it,” Robin tells her, shrugging.

 

She turns back towards him. “We just saw each other last weekend for Roland’s birthday, and they invite us here so soon afterwards? No, there is something going on,” she insists, and he frowns as he studies her for a moment and feels the anxiety coming from her in waves as she bites her bottom lip and stares at her nails intently.

 

“Hey,” he says to catch her attention. “I’m sure that everything is fine. Maybe, they have some good news they want to celebrate.”

 

She mulls it over as Ruby comes back to set their drinks on the table.

 

“Hmm, maybe. Though I don’t think it could be work related, Daniel didn’t talk to me about any big contracts lately. Do you think…” she trails off, her voice lowering. “Do you think they could have finally decided to slow down? To take some time off to travel like we always wanted to do?” There is genuine hope in her tone, and he suddenly wishes he could confirm it.

 

Regina and him don’t get along on much, but they have always wished to be able to see the world while being young enough to enjoy it. They both have their own firms, she is the CEO of a big cosmetic company she inherited from her mother, he has a landscaping business that has been doing rather well, and while they both are very dedicated to their jobs, they also have found some gifted employees to delegate to in case they take some extended vacations. Unfortunately, both Daniel, her husband, and Marian, his wife, are workaholics lawyers. They all have known one another since college, and Daniel and Marian went to work for the same firm before creating their own a few years ago, and they haven’t slowed down since, to Regina and Robin’s dismay.

 

“With the kids grown, and doing pretty well for themselves, now would be an ideal time,” Robin says, hoping that this is what tonight is really about.

 

“We’re about to find out,” Regina mumbles into her drink, looking over his shoulder, and there they are, Marian and Daniel, coming their way.

 

“Hello, darling,” Daniel greets Regina, pressing a kiss to her cheek, as Marian does the same with Robin, before exchanging air kisses with Regina. “Sorry, we’re late, some things to settle at the office before the weekend. Did you already order?” He asks, looking down at their drinks.

 

“Our cocktails, yes, and they are preparing our usual,” Regina tells him, relaxing significantly as he surrounds her shoulders with his arm.

 

“Great, I’m starving. Hi, Robin,” he shakes his friend’s hand over the table.

 

Ruby is back with their platter and to take the new arrivals’ drink order, and they start to eat, making light conversation.

 

Regina and Robin exchange looks during the meal, as her anxiety levels rise up again with each second that pass without an announcement, and he silently tries to tell her to chill out.

 

“Are you guys alright? Marian inquires, after a pause that lingered too long.

 

“Regina and I have just been wondering if this nice treat means that there is something to celebrate tonight,” Robin plucks up his courage to put the matter to rest once and for all. He picks up his glass to drink some of his bourbon before noticing the sudden stillness around the table.

 

“Hmmm,” Daniel starts, glancing at Marian who nods, giving him a small encouraging smile. “The thing is, we do have something to tell you, we’re just not sure how to share it…” he lets out a frustrated sigh, and Robin puts down his glass slowly, his gut clenching as a bad feeling invades him.

 

Regina doesn’t seem to be doing any better, she has let go of her fork and is clenching her napkin tightly in her lap, as she tries to catch her husband’s eyes. “Maybe actually using your words would be a good start,” she tells him as he looks up at her.

 

“You see, we’ve been trying to do this for a while, but there never seemed to be a good time,” Marian takes a deep breath. “I’m leaving you,” she declares, turning to Robin. “And he’s leaving you,” she adds, turning to Regina.

 

Regina and Robin both freeze, unsure if they have heard it right, or if they are both suffering from the same hallucination.

 

“Are you saying that you invited us to dinner in this very public place, where a lot of people know us, to confess that you’ve been wanting a divorce for a while and didn’t know how to tell us? Is that it? Did I miss something?” Regina resumes, in such a cold voice that the others actually shiver.

 

“I’m afraid that you didn’t, dear,” Daniel begins, but Regina bristles at the term of endearment.

 

“I think it would be better for everyone if you refrained from calling me that. How long has this been going on?” She asks, and Daniel and Marian both look down. “Come on, you started this, now you want to come clean, well I need some answers,” she presses when they remain silent.

 

“There wasn’t a starting point, it just happened gradually. We were becoming closer and we didn’t really know how to name those feelings. We have known each other a long time now, and we have always cared for one another deeply, but it slowly became something else, and by the time we realised it... we were in too deep,” Daniel attempts to clarify, in a not very successful attempt for a usually eloquent lawyer.

 

“We never wanted to hurt you,” Marian takes over, and Regina scoffs. “It’s true, we love you both so much, but we can’t keep this in any longer, it’s been killing us.”

 

“You are cowards,” Regina tells them, standing up. “You don’t care about hurting us, you did this here to avoid a scene, to avoid being embarrassed. I have had enough of this,” she throws her napkin in Daniel’s plate, sending pieces of food flying. “How is that for a scene?” With that she leaves, never looking back.

 

They remain seated for a long moment, not moving, not speaking, until Robin manages to shake himself from his torpor.

 

“I never thought I would say this one day, and mean it, but Regina is right. You’ve been pretending to love and care for us for I don’t know how long, while you were sneaking behind our backs. I’m guessing that’s what all those late meetings and phone calls at all hours were really about. So many things make sense now. Love really does make one blind,” he shakes his head, and gets up. “I will go as well, and let you enjoy the rest of your meal together.”

* * *

 

“Regina, are you there?” Daniel calls out as he enters their mansion. He checks the main level, and then goes up the stairs when he fails to locate her. “There you are,” he exclaims as he enters their bedroom, and finds her packing a suitcase.

 

“Regina, please, will you give me a chance to explain?” He begs her.

 

“You have had every chance to explain, you could have said anything, any number of times, any number of different ways, and you didn’t, instead you chose the wrongest possible one, where you didn’t respect our privacy, and where I couldn’t even have the chance to lash out. You owed me at least this, but apparently I spent more than twenty-five years of my life with a spineless coward, and I refuse to sacrifice any more of my time to you. I’m going to the beach house, you will receive the divorce petition in a few days. I really should be thanking my mother for making us sign that prenup,” Regina zips her suitcase shut, puts it on the ground and starts for the door, but Daniel stops her by gently grabbing her arm.

 

“Regina, you are angry right now, and that’s normal, but when you have had the chance to calm down, please remember that what’s happening with Marian has nothing to do with us. I love you, I have since I was eighteen years old, you are the mother of my child, you have been by my side through everything. There aren’t words strong enough to describe what I feel about you, but we’ve both changed, we aspire to different things, and Marian gets that. What I have with her is different. I love you both in different ways, it doesn’t make any of it less real.”

 

He sounds so earnest and Regina really wants to believe him, but betrayal has never been something she could accept and overcome easily, she is still her mother’s daughter in that regard. “If you had talked to me, if you had said those words when you realised what was happening with Marian, it might have made a difference, but after this, it’s too little, too late, Daniel,” she continues on her way out, pausing in the doorway. “You should be the one who tells Henry, I don’t think I could do it without trashing you at the moment,” she heads out, literally and figuratively closing the door on her twenty-five years marriage.

* * *

 

“Robin, I just want you to give us a chance to work through this,” Marian pleads as Robin throws his essentials in a duffel bag.

 

“What did you think would happen tonight, Marian?” Robin wants to know. “That we would congratulate you, give you our blessing, drink a glass of champagne to celebrate. Did you think that maybe you could keep us both? You blindsided us. Regina thought that something was wrong, but I told her not to worry, I told her that this was a casual evening between friends, because what kind of person does that? We even convinced ourselves that you would tell us that you were ready to take a step back from the firm, to spend more time with us, to focus on us now that you are established, now that the kids are in college. Instead, we got this,” he shoulders his bag with a huff. “You know I can hear and understand and forgive a lot of things, but my wife sleeping with my best friend behind my back for I don’t know how long, it’s so cliché! I don’t know what went wrong between us, for you to think that you had to hide and lie about your feelings. I always thought we could be open and honest about anything! I couldn’t have been more wrong, but thank you, Marian for opening my eyes.”

 

“Robin, don’t you think it’s possible to love more than one person?” Marian asks him.”Don’t you think I fought this? You and Roland, you were everything I needed and wanted for so long, and then it changed, there was someone else who understood me, and with whom I felt like I could be myself, and we knew that it was wrong, and that it would cause you pain, but we couldn’t give it up. But, please, don’t ever think that I don’t love you, or that the years we have spent together mean any less to me than they do to you.”

 

He sighs. “I’m not ready to hear that, Marian. I need some time to digest all of that. I’ll be in touch, and when you talk to Roland, tell him that he can call me anytime.”

* * *

 

Robin parks at the beach house he had bought with Marian, Regina and Daniel, years ago, on the Maine coast, as a sort of retreat from the hustle of their daily lives. He only has good memories here, of public holidays spent together, picnics, barbecues. This place isn’t tainted, so it doesn’t take him aback to see Regina’s car already there.

 

He takes his duffel bag out of the car and makes his way inside. A few lights are on, but Regina is nowhere to be seen, and the opened French windows gives Robin a pretty good idea of where she could be.

 

He puts his duffel on a couch and opens it, pulling out an old, metal box. He hesitates for a second before shrugging, thinking ‘to hell with it’. He grabs a glass and a bottle of homemade cider that Regina always seems to stock everywhere she goes, and goes out.

 

“Fancy meeting you here,” Robin tells Regina, sitting down by her side on the towel she spread over the sand. She is ahead of him in the ‘fixing your broken heart with alcohol’ game, another bottle of cider three quarters empty sitting between them.

 

“Why am I not surprised?” She replies, toasting him with her glass before drinking a rather big gulp.

 

He fills his own and sips it slowly, enjoying the rich flavour as it warms his insides.

 

They stay quiet as they pour the cider and empty their glasses a couple of times.

 

“What are we supposed to do now?” Regina asks, her voice rougher than usual.

 

“Whatever we want I guess,” Robin answers. He opens the box he has brought with him. “You remember when we used to smoke one of those in college for inspiration?”

 

Regina’s eyes widen almost comically, she seems scandalised for a second, looking between him and the box’s content, and then she bursts out laughing.

 

“Oh my God, you are such a hippie, it’s unbelievable!”

 

Her laugh is contagious, and Robin finds himself joining her. “Well, my parents did meet in Woodstock, some of it must have rubbed off on me,” he says, lighting up a joint and handing it to her.

 

She takes a drag and coughs, giving it back to him as he chuckles.

 

“You need more practice, Milady,” he mocks gently, showing off his own skills.

 

She seems to get the hang of it after a while, and he feels her relax against him as the effects kick in.

 

“You know maybe this is our chance after all. We always waited for them, first to finish law school, then to pass the bar, to become partners in their first law firm, to create their own, to establish a reputation... It was never ending, and we put all our dreams on hold, hoping that one day they would find some real time for us,” she leans her head against his shoulder, sighing. “We don’t have to anymore.”

 

“Are you suggesting what I think you are?” Robin asks, thinking that she must be really stoned and drunk to propose something like that.

 

She shrug. “I like antagonizing you, but you’re not that bad, I even like you from time to time.”

 

He presses her to him, grinning. “You’re so going to regret this in the morning.”

 

“Maybe, but it is the truth.”

 

“Where do you want to go first?” He sounds her out.

 

“Puerto Rico,” she responds at once. “My father always wanted to take me, but we never could. I would like to see it, to see where he was born.”

 

“Puerto Rico it is then,” he acquiesces. “We’re gonna be okay, Regina, you’ll see.”


End file.
